IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nex/wpaper/accessibilityandtheallocationoftime.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Accessibility and the Allocation of Time: Changes in Travel Behavior 1990-2010

Author

Listed:
  • Martin P. Brosnan
  • David Levinson

    (Nexus (Networks, Economics, and Urban Systems) Research Group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minnesota)

Abstract

Using detailed travel surveys conducted by the Metropolitan Council of the Minneapolis/St Paul (Twin Cities) Region in Minnesota for 1990, 2000-2001, and 2010-2011, this paper conducts a detailed analysis of journey-to-work times, activity allocation and accessibility. This study corroborates previous studies showing that accessibility is a significant factor in commute durations. Adjusting land use patterns to increase the number of workers in job-rich areas and the number of jobs in labor-rich areas is a reliable way of reducing auto commute durations. The finding that accessibility and commute duration have a large affect on the amount of time spent at work shows that activity patterns are influenced by transportation and the urban environment in very impactful ways. The descriptive results of this analysis show a measurable decline in the time people spend outside of their homes as well as the amount of time people spend in travel over the past decade. Although trip distances per trip are not getting any shorter, the willingness to make those trip is declining, and as a result fewer kilometers are being traveled and less time on average is being allocated to travel.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin P. Brosnan & David Levinson, 2014. "Accessibility and the Allocation of Time: Changes in Travel Behavior 1990-2010," Working Papers 000120, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:nex:wpaper:accessibilityandtheallocationoftime
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/11299/180061
    File Function: First version, 2014
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Adam Millard‐Ball & Lee Schipper, 2011. "Are We Reaching Peak Travel? Trends in Passenger Transport in Eight Industrialized Countries," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 357-378.
    2. Mohring, Herbert, 1972. "Optimization and Scale Economies in Urban Bus Transportation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 591-604, September.
    3. David Levinson & Seshasai Kanchi, 2002. "Road Capacity and the Allocation of Time," Working Papers 200203, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    4. David Levinson, 1998. "Accessibility and the Journey to Work," Working Papers 199802, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    5. David Levinson & Ajay Kumar, 1994. "The Rational Locator: Why Travel Times Have Remained Stable," Working Papers 199402, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    6. David M. Levtnson & Ajay Kumar, 1997. "Density and the Journey to Work," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 147-172, March.
    7. Yao Wu & David Levinson, 2005. "The Rational Locator Reexamined," Working Papers 200503, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    8. Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Chen, Cynthia, 2004. "TTB or not TTB, that is the question: a review and analysis of the empirical literature on travel time (and money) budgets," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 38(9-10), pages 643-675.
    9. David C. Wyld, 2010. "ASecond Lifefor organizations?: managing in the new, virtual world," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 33(6), pages 529-562, May.
    10. David Levinson & Ajay Kumar, 1995. "Activity, Travel, and the Allocation of Time," Working Papers 199505, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hao Wu & Paolo Avner & Genevieve Boisjoly & Carlos K. V. Braga & Ahmed El-Geneidy & Jie Huang & Tamara Kerzhner & Brendan Murphy & Michał A. Niedzielski & Rafael H. M. Pereira & John P. Pritchard & A, 2022. "Urban access across the globe: an international comparison of different transport modes," Working Papers 2021-01, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    2. Rafael Henrique Moraes Pereira & Tim Schwanen, 2013. "Commute Time in Brazil (1992-2009): Differences Between Metropolitan Areas, by Income Levels and Gender," Discussion Papers 1813a, Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada - IPEA.
    3. Vale, David S., 2013. "Does commuting time tolerance impede sustainable urban mobility? Analysing the impacts on commuting behaviour as a result of workplace relocation to a mixed-use centre in Lisbon," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 38-48.
    4. Hao Wu & David Levinson & Andrew Owen, 2021. "Commute mode share and access to jobs across US metropolitan areas," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 48(4), pages 671-684, May.
    5. Paolo Veneri, 2010. "Urban Polycentricity and the Costs of Commuting: Evidence from Italian Metropolitan Areas," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 403-429, September.
    6. David Levinson & Hao Wu, 2020. "Towards a general theory of access," Working Papers 2022-01, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    7. Ma, Kang-Rae & Kang, Eun-Taek, 2011. "Time–space convergence and urban decentralisation," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 606-614.
    8. Dissanayake, Dilum, 2017. "Watching the clock on the way to work? Analysing trends in commuting activities, modes and gender differences in commute times, using hazard-based duration modelling methods," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 188-199.
    9. Meng Zhou & Donggen Wang, 2019. "Investigating inter-generational changes in activity-travel behavior: a disaggregate approach," Transportation, Springer, vol. 46(5), pages 1643-1687, October.
    10. Gonzales, Eric Justin, 2011. "Allocation of Space and the Costs of Multimodal Transport in Cities," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt7s28n4nj, University of California Transportation Center.
    11. Feng, Jianxi & Dijst, Martin & Wissink, Bart & Prillwitz, Jan, 2017. "Changing travel behaviour in urban China: Evidence from Nanjing 2008–2011," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-10.
    12. David Levinson, 1999. "Space, money, life-stage, and the allocation of time," Transportation, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 141-171, May.
    13. Schwanen, Tim & Dieleman, Frans M. & Dijst, Martin, 2002. "The impact of metropolitan structure on commute behavior in the Netherlands: a multilevel approach," ERSA conference papers ersa02p069, European Regional Science Association.
    14. Gonzales, Eric Justin, 2011. "Allocation of Space and the Costs of Multimodal Transport in Cities," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt07x7h9pg, University of California Transportation Center.
    15. Ding, Chuan & Wang, Donggen & Liu, Chao & Zhang, Yi & Yang, Jiawen, 2017. "Exploring the influence of built environment on travel mode choice considering the mediating effects of car ownership and travel distance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 65-80.
    16. Cui, Boer & Boisjoly, Geneviève & El-Geneidy, Ahmed & Levinson, David, 2019. "Accessibility and the journey to work through the lens of equity," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 269-277.
    17. Mohíno, Inmaculada & Ureña, José M. & Solís, Eloy, 2016. "Transport infrastructure and territorial cohesion in rural metro-adjacent regions: A multimodal accessibility approach. The case of Castilla-La Mancha in the context of Madrid (Spain)," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 115-133.
    18. Chunil Kim & Choongik Choi, 2019. "Towards Sustainable Urban Spatial Structure: Does Decentralization Reduce Commuting Times?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-28, February.
    19. Jing Tao & Ying Wang & Rong Wang & Chuanmin Mi, 2019. "Do Compactness and Poly-Centricity Mitigate PM 10 Emissions? Evidence from Yangtze River Delta Area," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-18, October.
    20. Longden, Thomas, 2016. "The Regularity and Irregularity of Travel: an Analysis of the Consistency of Travel Times Associated with Subsistence, Maintenance and Discretionary Activities," ET: Economic Theory 243150, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Accessibility; Transport Geography; Travel Behavior; Networks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nex:wpaper:accessibilityandtheallocationoftime. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: David Levinson (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nexmnus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.